The Colorado Avalanche and the Montreal Canadiens have inserted their names in the playoff discussion due in large part to their scintillating play of late.
The Avalanche carry a 9-1-1 record over their last 11 games into the finale of their three-game road trip on Saturday against the Canadiens. Montreal is 8-1-3 in the 12 games since the 4 Nations Face-Off break in the schedule.
Colorado (42-25-3, 87 points) bolted out of the blocks in its last game, scoring four times in the first period and cruising to a 5-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
“I’m really happy with it; I’ve been really happy with the way we’ve played,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “We had a handful of chances in the first period, but they were good chances and we capitalized on them.
“… So have to be pretty happy with the effort, the competitiveness and the execution here.”
Brock Nelson scored his first two goals since being acquired from the New York Islanders on March 6.
“Awesome to see him get two, his first two with us,” Colorado defenseman Cale Makar said of Nelson. “You can tell in the new guys, their confidence keeps going up and up, and the chemistry in the lines is starting to get there. So it’s exciting, and hopefully we can keep rolling.”
Makar collected a goal and added an assist and Nathan MacKinnon added his team-best 28th goal. MacKinnon leads the NHL in assists (77) and points (105).
Makar and MacKinnon each notched an assist in the first encounter against Montreal, but the Canadiens rallied to a 2-1 shootout victory in Denver on Jan. 4.
Cole Caufield, who leads the team with 33 goals, scored in the third period and in the shootout of that game for Montreal.
The Canadiens (33-27-8, 74 points) return home after dropping a 4-3 overtime decision to the Islanders on Thursday. Montreal occupies the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Patrik Laine recorded a goal and an assist to boost his point total to five (three goals, two assists) in his past four games.
Brendan Gallagher scored for the second time in as many games on Thursday for Montreal, which rallied from a two-goal deficit to force the extra session.
“I thought we played a pretty good game,” Gallagher said. “We’re rolling pretty good right now. We feel comfortable in any situation. Even when we’re down two there on the road we understand we can come back. Just keep doing what we’re doing. It’s led to some success … no need to change it.
“I just think everybody’s playing good hockey right now. We have everybody to a man competing, playing well and contributing. It’s different people every single night, but right now we got it going pretty good.”
Captain Nick Suzuki set up a goal to boost his team-leading totals in assists (50) and points (71). He has 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in his last 12 games.
